Could AI help battle social media’s impact on children?

A 2019 study by JAMA found children who spend more than three hours a day on social media were at double the risk for mental health disorders, including depression and anxiety.

Now, one company is using artificial intelligence as a window into a child’s online habits and behaviors. Rebecca Wilcoxson told CBS News her 15-year-old son, Sam, got his first iPhone in December, but she wanted guardrails.

“It’s a lot of pressure on parents to try to keep up with this tech that is constantly changing, if not daily, hourly,” Wilcoxson said.

She joined a paid clinical study for Balance. The app was developed by the security company Aura.

“As I scroll, it’ll explain how his tone was in his texting, and it’ll show me the most used apps for the time that he was on his phone,” Wilcoxson shared.

The app builds a personalized baseline for each child, then alerts parents when something seems off. It’s like having a digital pulse on your kid’s well-being.

CEO Hari Ravichandran said the motivation to create the app was personal after his 13-year-old daughter faced a mental health crisis.

“She didn’t want to get out of her room,” Ravichandran said. “She was like, lying in her bed, saying, ‘I don’t want to get up.’ It was very visible that she’s struggling.”

So Ravichandran turned to experts like child psychologists and clinicians to help him create the app. His medical team trains AI models to analyze many things, including a child’s language patterns, online tone, emotional state, and late-night activity.

Then parents receive reports through the app.

Organizations seek more protections from social media for children

Josh Golin heads Fairplay, an advocacy group dedicated to protecting children online. He said real change needs to come from lawmakers and big tech companies.

“When they are faced with choices about implementing features that would make kids safer, but simultaneously reduce the amount of time that they spend online,” Golin said. “They do not implement those features because it would hurt their bottom line. And so if regulation says you have a duty to protect kids, that’s when I think we’ll start to see real change.”

But for families navigating the chaos of tech and teens, Balance could be the bridge they’ve been waiting for.

“I see where there’s maybe been some more negative talking, and we’re able to use that as a talking point,” Golin said. “If these tech companies have this money to keep developing, developing, developing, then where’s the opportunity for them to make it safe for children who are the most vulnerable of our population?”

Balance is one of the first apps to use AI, but there are other tools aiming to help parents monitor their child’s online activity.

What are your thoughts on an app like this?